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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEW'IS G. BRADFORD, ()F PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS. ASSIGNOR TO THE BRADFORD JOINT COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BEDSTEAD-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,091, dated December 20, 1881.

Application filed October 17, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEwIs G. BRADFORD, of Plymouth, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bedstead-Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bedstead-fastenings in which a metal plate attached to the rail is adapted to be connected to the post; and it consists of an improvement on the fastening for which I obtained Letters Patent of the United States No. 130,973, dated September 3, 1872, the object being to use a fiat plate and connect it to the rail by the interior edges of ISOIIG or more openings in the plate.

- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view ofone of myiinprovedjoints, with a portion of the covering-plate broken away to show the interior. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show modified forms of my improved plates.

The plate A is fiat, (and not benttoforin arib, as in the patent above 1nentioned,) and has a hook, a, that enters the saw-kerf in post 13 and hooks overa pin, b, passing through that post,

in the usual way, or is otherwise adapted to take hold of post B. That part of plate A that is to heattaehed to the rail B is formed with one or more openings, c, as shown in the drawings, and a recess, (1, is made in the side of the rail 0 D, the depth of the recess being just the thickness of the plate A, so that when the plate is placed in this recess (1 the part at of the rail will project through the opening a, and the surface of the plate will be flush with the sur- 5 face of the rail. The covering-piece d is then secured to the rail. The recess dis readily formed by well-known machines, so that the part 01 shall be a neat fit for the opening a in plate A; and it will be seen that plate A is brought into its proper place by simply fitting it over the part 61 of the rail, and is securely held by the close fit of part cl in the opening a.

I am aware of the Patent No. 228,728, of June 15, 1880; but in that patent points or projections from the plate abut againsttheface of the rail, and in use these points soon wear into the rail and make the plate loose. These points or projections are intended to prevent the plate from sagging by moving on the central projection, and some provision of this kind is indispensable. To give these projections a bearing on the face of the rail there must be a nice fit between the wood and the outer edges of the plate. In my improved fastening the interior edges of the openings alone prevent the plate from sagging. It is not necessary that the outer edges of the plate should touch the wood, and no nicety of fit is required except for the part that fits the openings. The outer edges of the plate and the inner edges of the recess in the rail do not need any finishing or fitting. I therefore disclaim all that is shown in said patent.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 6 As an improved bedstead-fastening, the flat metallic plate A, adapted to be connected to the post, and having one or more openings, a, the interior edges of which form its only connection with'therail,substantiallyasdescribed, and for the purposes set forth.

LEWIS G. BRADFORD.

Witnesses:

NATHANIEL MORTON, FRED D. BARTLETT. 

